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  #1  
Old 03-30-2014, 02:42 PM
Tacomamc Tacomamc is offline
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Posts: 152
Default Epiphany for me

So, I've been tiring of my Martin 000X1AE, wanting something a little different, though I wasn't sure exactly sure what I wanted. It was the tone of the guitar that I didn't like, and thought it was the HPL sides and back that made it sound poor to me lately. I tried some smaller guitars today at Guitar center, just for fun, and was surprised that I liked the Recording King Single 0 so much. Definitely felt like a cheaper guitar, but it sounded good, and was supremely comfortable. I also played an Alvarez AF 000 size that sounded really nice as well, and I liked the wider nut.

So, I bought some cheap Martin strings to put on my Martin, and went from 13's to 12's, and it shocked me how much better the Martin sounded to me. I still may want to trade or sell it to get an Alvarez or Recording King parlor sized guitar, but was glad that the $4.88 I spent on strings made such a positive impact. I'll do some forum searching for Recording King and Alvarez dealers here on AGF, in case I can sell my Martin locally. But still, it always shocks me how much difference a new set of strings can make. Maybe I need to change them more frequently?
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  #2  
Old 03-30-2014, 03:07 PM
mattyfez mattyfez is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tacomamc View Post
So, I've been tiring of my Martin 000X1AE, wanting something a little different, though I wasn't sure exactly sure what I wanted. It was the tone of the guitar that I didn't like, and thought it was the HPL sides and back that made it sound poor to me lately. I tried some smaller guitars today at Guitar center, just for fun, and was surprised that I liked the Recording King Single 0 so much. Definitely felt like a cheaper guitar, but it sounded good, and was supremely comfortable. I also played an Alvarez AF 000 size that sounded really nice as well, and I liked the wider nut.

So, I bought some cheap Martin strings to put on my Martin, and went from 13's to 12's, and it shocked me how much better the Martin sounded to me. I still may want to trade or sell it to get an Alvarez or Recording King parlor sized guitar, but was glad that the $4.88 I spent on strings made such a positive impact. I'll do some forum searching for Recording King and Alvarez dealers here on AGF, in case I can sell my Martin locally. But still, it always shocks me how much difference a new set of strings can make. Maybe I need to change them more frequently?
How often do you change strings? I'm a very casual player and find 2/3 months is a general benchmark before strings sounding dead.

There are also 2 billion string variations on the market, so it's worth experimenting with strings types.
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  #3  
Old 03-30-2014, 03:57 PM
Tacomamc Tacomamc is offline
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Posts: 152
Default Epiphany for me

I bought this guitar used, an soon after put on the 13's, they were GHS. I don't recall now which set it was, but these Martin 12's are definitely better to my ears. I generally only get about 30 minutes of play before bed, maybe 5 nights a week. I always forget how much of an impact new strings make. I was more than ready to sell my gad Guild 125 until i was given some GHS core bright strings which really transformed the guitar for me. Back when I used elixirs, I would get 9 months out of them.
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